World of Hyatt is out with a new “Bonus Journeys” promotion for the second quarter. In direct comparison to the current Jan/Feb Bonus Journeys promotion, it feels flat-out disappointing. Those who missed out on registering for the Bonus Journeys promotion ending on 2/28 will not feel redeemed. However, in my opinion, Hyatt’s mistake here is in keeping the Bonus Journeys name — the first iteration of the promo isn’t really a fair comparison given that many would agree it has been among the best promotions we’ve seen in years considering the timing. Compared against more typical hotel promotions, the new Hyatt Bonus Journeys promo actually looks pretty good and in fact I think it does a decent job of incentivizing those who are 10 nights away from key milestone benefits to continue staying with Hyatt, which is a tall order in the current climate.
2K bonus points with every 2 nights (2.5K for World of Hyatt Credit Card Holders) + Cat 1-4 free night cert after 10 nights
You’ll need to register for the new promotion:
Link to register for Q2 Bonus Journeys
The new “Q2” Bonus Journeys promotion offers bonus points with every two qualifying nights and a free night certificate after 10 qualifying nights as follows:
- Members who register now through May 15th and stay from March 1, 2021 to June 15, 2021 will earn 2,000 bonus points with every 2 qualifying nights at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts worldwide and also at MGM hotels & resorts, SLH properties, and Lindbald Expedition Experiences.
- World of Hyatt credit card holders earn 2,500 total bonus points with every 2 qualifying nights (i.e. cardholders get an extra 500 points)
- All members earn a Cat 1-4 free night certificate after their first 10 qualifying nights during the promotional period. Note that this certificate is valid for 180 days from date of issue.
Is this promotion mattress run worthy for World of Hyatt Globalists?
If you have recently achieved Globalist status, I would argue that this promotion is intriguing. Let’s consider 3 sets of Globalists:
Globalists with 30 elite nights
If you have earned 30 elite nights so far and therefore earned the abbreviated path to Globalist status, you will earn a Milestone Reward at 40 nights good for either 5,000 Hyatt points or a $100 Hyatt gift card.
If you were to book 10 Category 1 award nights (cost = 5K per night for a total of 50K points), you would get 10K points back (or 12.5K points back as a cardholder). Assuming you take the points for the 40-night milestone reward, your net cost will be 35K or 32.5K points for a free Category 1-4 certificate. That’s a bad deal and not worth it by itself. If you need a hotel and Hyatt fits your plans, there is no harm in utilizing this promotion, but it isn’t terribly compelling for the purposes of reaching 40 nights.
Globalists with 40 elite nights
In my opinion, the math changes pretty significantly for Globalists currently at 40 nights. That’s because 10 nights at a Category 1 Hyatt (total cost = 50K points) would yield:
- 10K points from Bonus Journeys (12.5K for cardholders)
- 2 suite upgrade awards (each good for up to 7 nights)
- Cat 1-4 free night certificate
For a net 40K (or perhaps 37.5K) points, two suite upgrade awards might be a good deal if you are confident you will use them well. Each suite upgrade can be used to confirm a standard suite for a stay of up to 7 nights. If you are confident that you’ll use each suite upgrade for at least 5 nights, and even if you don’t value the Cat 1-4 free night certificate at all, it’s like paying 4K points per night to upgrade those stays to a suite. That can certainly be worthwhile at higher-end properties. If you value the free night certificate, I think the deal becomes pretty strong.
On the other hand, if you’re not confident that you’ll put those suite upgrades to strong use, it may not be worth taking advantage of this.
Globalists with 50 elite nights
Globalists who currently have 50 elite nights might find this promotion worth a mattress run. That’s because for the same 50K points for a 10-night Cat 1 stay, they would end up with:
- 10K points from Bonus Journeys (12.5K for cardholders)
- 2 suite upgrade awards (each good for up to 7 nights)
- Cat 1-4 free night certificate
- Cat 1-7 free night certificate
For a net 40K (or 37.5K for cardholders), I think that value is hard to pass up if you value the free night certificates at all. Personally, I’d trade 40K points for that if I were at all confident I could use the benefits.
Given that the Cat 1-4 certificate will expire 180 days from issuance, if I were sitting at 50 nights, I’d probably book a stay as close as possible to the end of the booking window in order to extend the period of time during which I could use that certificate as I feel more bullish about being able to use it to good use the farther into the future we go.
Is this promotion mattress run worthy for those with no status?
If you have no status with Hyatt, this promotion isn’t worth a mattress run (where you check in with no intention of actually staying). However, it’s still not a bad promotion for those who will stay at low-category hotels.
For example, if you’ll be spending two nights at a Category 1 property, a general member would get 2,000 bonus points or a credit card holder would get 2,500 points. That’s like a 20-25% rebate on the number of points required for an award stay (similar to the current Bonus Journeys rebate on award stays). For cheap paid stays, it is considerably better than the current promo. For example, if you were to spend two nights at a cost of $50 per night (which isn’t impossible in some markets given the current environment), you’d be spending $100 and getting at least 2,500 points (2,000 points from Q2 Bonus Journeys and 5x base points on $100). Given our Reasonable Redemption Value for Hyatt points of 1.5c each, that’s like a return of $37.50. Getting 37.5% back on a Hyatt stay (or even better if you’re a credit card holder) would be pretty terrific return if you actually needed a cheap night.
On the other hand, if you’re going to be staying at more expensive properties, the new Bonus Journeys promo won’t likely move the needle at all. For example, if you are staying at a property that is $200 per night (which is still far from being at the expensive end of the Hyatt spectrum), you would be spending $400 and earning 4,000 points (a reasonable redemption value of $60, good for about a 15% return on spend). That’s actually pretty good for Hyatt, but certainly not exciting enough to make a huge impact on your decision making. If you’re spending considerably more, the incentive plummets.
The moral of the story is that if you will naturally reach 10 nights during the promotion period, the combination of a decent return on spend with the free night certificate could make this promotion reasonably rewarding for stays at the cheaper end of the Hyatt spectrum. The free night certificate could still be a decent added bonus for those who would be staying at higher end properties anyway, but it doesn’t necessarily make for something exciting enough to force you to choose Hyatt if your stays are pricey.
One more group that might consider this promotion particularly attractive would be those currently at 20 elite nights. Ten nights during this promotion would get them to Globalist status, earn them a Cat 1-4 free night certificate for a milestone benefit and a Cat 1-4 free night certificate from the promotion in addition to the points rebate.
Bottom line
The new “Q2” Hyatt Bonus Journeys promotion is actually pretty good for low-level / cheap Hyatt stays and it might even be mattress run worthy for those close to key milestone rewards. It won’t be hugely compelling for those with higher-category / more expensive Hyatt stays, but as compared to the average Marriott or IHG promotion, this looks pretty good — albeit a far cry from Q1 Bonus Journeys.
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